In a Flash
by theonceandfuturekiki
Summary: A collection of Jeff/Annie flash fics. Not necessarily connected. All taking place after Basic Sandwich.
1. Stargazing

"'Let's go stargazing'," Jeff said mockingly. "'I'm Britta and I come up with the stupidest ideas _when I'm high_."

Annie rolled her eyes for what felt like the thousandth time in an hour, tired of hearing Jeff whine about the current situation.

"'Yes, Britta, let's go stargazing'," he continued. "'I'm _Annie_ and I'm stupid enough to _agree with Britta when she's high!_'"

"Well, excuse me for thinking it might be fun for the group to do something different on a Saturday night than watching movies and fighting about the Terminator movies _again_," Annie snapped, trying to read the map and hold the flashlight on it at the same times.

Jeff scoffed and Annie shot him a sharp look. "I'm just saying, if Troy thinks the T-X is scarier than the T-1000 then he's crazy," he grumbled in response.

"And for the record, it's _your_ fault we're stuck in the middle of woods. You're the one who decided to storm off by yourself," Annie accused, shining the flashlight into Jeff's eyes.

"Well, I'm so sorry that I didn't really feel like listening to Troy and Britta wax poetic about how much they love each other," Jeff growled, shoving the flashlight away from his face and out of Annie's hands.

"Jeff!" she cried as she dropped to the ground, trying to find the flashlight that had shut off on impact. "It's bad enough you got us lost out here, now you lost the flashlight!"

"Sorry," Jeff mumbled as he watched her on her hands and knees, feeling around for the small flashlight. He really did feel bad. But he was angry, too. And frustrated. And confused. All things he had felt since everything had gone down in Borchert's lab three months earlier. It had just reached a boiling point tonight.

"I know you're upset that Britta left you to get back together with Troy, but it's pretty ridiculous that you're going to let us die because of it," Annie huffed out as she stood, still feeling around on the ground with her foot.

At first Jeff just shrugged, his brain only registering the fact that Annie was still chastising him. It took him a moment to catch up to exactly what she was chastising him for. "Wait, what?"

It was too dark to see her clearly, but he could almost feel the awkwardness coming off of her. "Nothing. Forget it. We lost the flashlight. Let's just keep moving."

"Annie, what are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying that the woods aren't that big. If we keep moving we'll eventually find either the group or a road."

"No, I meant before that." Frustrated, Jeff stopped and reached out, grasping for Annie's arm. "Britta didn't 'leave me' for Troy."

They had come to a small clearing in the woods, and without the cover of the trees the moon provided enough light that they could see each other. Annie looked angry. "You guys were engaged, and then Troy came back and he and Britta got back together again."

"Annie, Britta and I weren't engaged when Troy came back to town."

Confusion came in, warring on her face with her anger and frustration. "What?"

"We called off the engagement about 30 seconds after we saved Greendale from Subway," Jeff explained, finally realizing her was still holding onto her hand.

He watched he face as she tried to put the pieces together, marveling at how expressive her face was and how many emotions it could display at one time.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Annie finally asked quietly.

Dammit. Jeff had hoped she wouldn't ask that because he still didn't have an answer. At least not one that he was ready to say out loud. "I mean… I didn't think I had to. Everyone kind of already knew."

"But why didn't you tell _me_?" She sounded so sad and so angry at the same time, and he wished he could tell her the real answer.

_Because if I told you we weren't getting married I'd have to tell you why. Because if I told you why I'd have to tell you that I realized exactly why I was going to marry Britta in the first place while we were trapped in Borchert's lab. Because if I told you how I realized that I'd have to tell you what else I realized down there._

Jeff looked at her, standing so close to him, the moonlight illuminating her face with a soft, fuzzy light. If he was a better man than he was, if he wasn't such a coward, he could take advantage of this romantic setting. He could give her the storybook scene he knew she'd always wanted.

Instead he shrugged and said, "Honestly, the whole thing with Britta was so stupid that as soon as it was over it was like I forgot all about it."

Annie rolled her eyes and looked at him with what seemed to be practiced pity. "Come on, Jeff. You don't have to act like you don't still have feelings with her."

It was Jeff's turn to be confused and frustrated. "Annie, what are you talking about? I don't have feelings for Britta. I didn't even have feelings for her during the whole half hour that we were engaged."

"Then why do you always get so upset whenever she and Troy talk about how much they love each other?" she asked with that smug and satisfied look she always got when she made her point using tangible proof. Usually the look was adorable, but this time it was tinged with sadness.

_Because every time I see Britta and Troy telling each other how they feel it just reminds me how much I have constantly failed to do the same for you_.

"Annie, when have I ever enjoyed listening to people be all mushy and emotional?" he deflected.

The look of pity remained on her face for a moment before she tilted her head slightly and squinted, like she was starting to figure something out. Jeff felt like she was seeing right through him and briefly thought _yes, please. Figure it out. I want you to know, but I can't tell you. Make it easier for me and just figure it out._

But after a moment Annie shook her head. "Forget it," she said, turning away from him.

Jeff followed, hating himself for every step he took that he didn't tell her how he felt.

THE END


	2. It Was You

"It was you, okay?" Annie said tearfully as she backed away from Jeff, extracting her hands from his. Taking a deep breath she continued. "That speech I gave in Borchert's lab. The one about letting the people love want what they want? I was talking about you. I want you to have the things you want and I'm not going to try to stop you anymore, okay?"

"Annie-" Jeff tried to start, tried to stop her so that he could explain that what he wanted was _her_.

"No, Jeff. Please. Don't." She wrapped her arms around herself protectively. "You want Britta. You were going to marry her. I know that you guys aren't going to get married now, but the fact that you guys went right to each other and got engaged when you thought you were losing Greendale shows how much you two want to be together. And if I love you enough to let you want what you want, then that means I need to stop thinking about myself and help you see what you want and help you get it. So I'm not going to let you do this just because you're scared of actually having the things you want."

Jeff turned Annie's words over and over in his head, trying to figure out a way to convince her that he didn't want Britta, that he _couldn't_ want Britta, not after the realization he'd had in Borchert's lab. He kept going through her speech, over and over, trying to ignore the silencing that had enveloped them, when finally, he hit on something.

"You love me."

Annie's eyes shot to Jeff's, wide and startled. "I- what? No, I-"

"You said 'if I love you enough to let you want what you want'," he said, slowly stepping close to her. "You said that you love me."

"I didn't mean…" she looked around the room and let out an exasperated breath. "I didn't mean like that. You're my friend, of course I love you."

"That's not how you meant it."

"Please don't do this. Please, don't try to use my words to make me sound like some stupid kid so you can make fun of me. Don't."

"I'm not. I wouldn't."

He stepped into her, his hands going to her upper arms and grasping lightly. "I know how you really meant it because I meant it in the same way you do."

"Jeff," she whispered tremulously. "You were going to marry Britta."

"Because we were both scared shitless of losing Greendale."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it does. We were scared of losing Greendale without anything to show for it. We were scared that we would go back to where we were before we came back to Greendale. We were afraid of losing everyone else so we clung to each other."

"Why her, then?" Annie's voice continued to tremble as she asked. "Why would you go to Britta? Why would you ask _her_ to marry you if she wasn't what you wanted."

"Because I was scared. I wanted something immediate, not something real."

His hand ran up her arms slowly before cupping her face. "If I had wanted something real I would have gone to you."

Annie closed her eyes. "Jeff…"

"I want something real now."

A tear escaped Annie's eye as she shook her head, not willing to believe what she was hearing.

"When we were down in Borchert's lab," Jeff started, ready to lay all his cards on the table, "I put on that ridiculous head gear. And I looked at every one of you, trying to muster up enough _something_ to open that door. I love all of you guys. I do. But when I thought of the Dean and Abed, I couldn't do it. And I absolutely couldn't do it when I thought of Britta."

At hearing that, Annie finally opened her eyes.

"It was you," he finished.

THE END


	3. Out of Order

_Have you lost your mind?_ Jeff mentally chastised himself as he tried to catch his breath, the sweat cooling on his skin. In the bed next to him, Annie was doing the same. _This was not the plan_.

He listened as Annie's breathing slowed and tried to think of what he should do next, how he could save this, but his mind was still sex-hazed, and the fact that he could feel Annie's arm pressing against his wasn't helping.

"So…" Jeff ventured. "That happened."

"Yes," Annie responded. "It did."

Another long moment of silence followed before Annie moved, pulling the sheet up to her chest and rolling to face Jeff, half of her body resting against his side. He moved his arm up, around her shoulders, to accommodate her.

Jeff was expecting her to rest his head on his chest, but she kept it raised, looking at his face. "Listen, Jeff," she started, and Jeff could tell she was trying to steel herself. "I don't want you to think that I expect anything from this."

_Shit_. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted it to happen this way. When it happened, he'd wanted her to not have any doubt about what it meant. He'd had a very clear plan of how this was going to work, and yeah, he had stalled a little longer than he should have because he was scared, but he had a plan and he wanted to stick to it. He should have known that eventually his self-control where Annie was concerned would break.

While Jeff was mentally berating himself, Annie had continued talking. "And I don't want you to feel like you have to-"

"Annie, stop."

"No, Jeff, please just let me say this."

"No. No, you need to stop," he continued as he sat up, bringing Annie with him. "Just, stop and let me do this."

Annie tilted her head and furrowed her brow in the way she did when she was trying to figure something out and nodded at him to continue.

"I had this whole plan about how I was going to do this, and this was most definitely not the first part of that plan," Jeff started, aware that he was rambling but unable to stop. "I was first going to tell you everything, and then ask you out, and I was going to let you set the speed and then I mess it all up. And I guess it would be weird to ask you out on a date now-"

"Jeff," Annie stopped him. "I mean it, really. You don't have to do this."

"Let me finish. Please." Jeff took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. "Okay, I have to tell you something." He took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. "Do you remember when we were down in Borchert's lab?"

At the mention of that day Annie's expression changed. Her entire body began telegraphing extreme discomfort. She tried to pull her hands away but Jeff held on, not letting her.

"You mean the day that you and Britta decided to get married?"

Jeff winced. "Yeah, that day."

Annie started to turn away from him. "Okay, I don't think that I want to hear this."

He pulled on her hands slightly to get her to face him again. "Annie, please. Just listen. And let me finish."

She nodded but she wouldn't look at him.

"We were stuck down there with no way out, and then Borchert told us that the computer could be powered by human passion. And after rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of it all, I put the sci-fi headgear on to give it try. Remember?"

Annie nodded again. "And you made us turn around because you're embarrassed by feelings?"

Jeff chuckled. "Yes." He then paused, trying to get the nerve up to finally do this.

"Jeff?" Annie asked after several moments had passed.

Taking a deep breath, Jeff plowed ahead. "I tried looking at the Dean, I tried looking at Abed, and I tried looking at Britta, and none of them made me feel enough to get that computer to work. And then I looked at you. I thought about you. More specifically, I thought about you and me. And I thought about how I feel about. How I've felt about you for a shamefully long time. And that's what did it. That's what turned that ridiculous computer on."

Finally, she looked up at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we got out of that horrifying 80s nightmare of a bunker because I love you."

Annie shook her head slightly like she could believe what she was hearing. "Promise me you aren't just saying this because we slept together and you feel guilty."

"I wouldn't do that to you. I'm saying this because it's true. I love you. And I was going to tell you _before_ we slept together, but that plan kind of fell apart."

"I don't care that it fell apart. This all feels pretty perfect to me."

Jeff had to agree. Nothing with Annie had been done in the right order. He kissed her (or, rather, she kissed him), then got to know her, and kissed her again, then slept with another woman while he was falling in love with her. It made sense that this would all be out of order, too.

"And I know that I don't have an ancient emotions-reading computer here to confirm this, so you're just going to have to take my word for it," Annie said, as she leaned in to kiss him. "I love you, too."

THE END


	4. Apologies

"Finally!" Britta exclaimed as she shut the car door behind her. "You're twenty minutes late."

"Yeah, sorry, I got… distracted," Jeff apologized.

"Well, let's go! Shirley's going to kill us if we're late for her going away party."

"Yeah, listen, before we go… there's something I need to talk to you about," he said tentatively as he turned toward her.

Britta examined his body language and the look on his face. Then she started to panic. "Jeff, before you start, I just want to make sure you know that-"

"Britta, stop. Trust me, this isn't what you-"

"No, I _really_ don't want to marry you. I don't want to be with you. So I don't know if this is you letting me down easy, or if it's you trying to tell me that you still have feelings for me, but I'm just going to shut this down before it gets more uncomfortable for either of us and ruins everything." Britta took a deep breath as she finished, hoping that Jeff would just be his usual self and brush this thing off.

"Wow, okay," Jeff said, slightly stunned. "That's… not even close to what I wanted to talk to you about."

"So… this thing that you want to talk about. It has nothing to do with our so-called engagement?"

"Well, yes, it does. But not in the way that you're thinking."

Britta looked at him suspiciously but motioned for him to continue.

"I don't really know how to start," he floundered. "I guess maybe with… I'm sorry."

"Jeff, we were both equally to blame for our stupid decision, you don't have to apologize," she chuckled.

"No, that's not-" Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he continued. "I asked you to marry me – well, really, suggested that we get married – when I really, _really_shouldn't have." Britta opened her mouth to interrupt, but Jeff stopped her. "And I don't mean because we were just scared of losing Greendale and leaving it without having anything to show for it. That's all true. But, it was wrong to do it because… God, I asked you to marry me while I was in love with someone else."

Wide-eyed, Britta stared at him in shock for a few moments. "What!?"

"I didn't realize it at the time. Or, I did, but I didn't want to…"

"Why are you telling me this? Why are you apologizing to _me _for this?"

"Because I was ready to marry you when I was in love with someone else! And I really was ready to marry you. For that half hour, even though it was for all the wrong reasons and I knew we would make each other miserable, I was completely willing to marry you even though I love someone else. And that was really shitty of me."

"Jeff… I appreciate it. And I do think you're a pretty big jerk for that. But I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

He sighed, running a hand over his face and through his hair. "I know."

"It's Annie, isn't it?" Britta asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"And it's because of how you feel about her that we got out of Borchert's lab, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"_She's_ the one you need to talk to. You need to tell her. And you need to _apologize_to her. After all the crap you're put her through, getting engaged to me while you were in love with her? That's pretty shitty and selfish."

"I know. I just… I don't know how to tell her. It's like I don't know how to talk to her anymore in general."

"Well, the love you feel for her powered a computer that got us out of that bunker, right?" Jeff nodded. "When you tell her, just look at her and think about how much you love her and let that give you the words."

He nodded again. "Thanks, Britta."

"You're welcome. Now can we please go? Talking to you about this is making me incredibly uncomfortable."

THE END


End file.
